Clothes bar



Jan. 28, '1969 w. H. coRNELsEN CLOTHES BAR INVENTOH.

Mm/14N A( faena-55M BY V Arrow/LYS United States Patent O 3,424,314CLOTHES BAR Wayman H. Cornelsen, Fairview, Okla. 73737Continuation-impart of abandoned application Sel'. No.

584,809, Oct. 6, 1966. This application Jan. 11, 1967,

Ser. No. 608,698 U.S. Cl. 211-105.3 Int. Cl. A47h 1/08 4 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE Cross-references to related applications Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of my U.S. patent application Ser.No. 584,809, filed Oct. 6, 1966, now abandoned.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a clothes barwhich can be A placed in any location where a pair of horizonally spacedprotuberances or hooks are available for suspending the bar. Morespecifically, Ibut not 'by way of limitation, the present inventionrelates to a telescoping clothes bar having a pair of upstanding hangerrings near each end thereof, which bar is constructed in a mannerpermitting it to be usefully employed in automobiles for hanging.clothes therein, and which can be easily detached from' the automobileand stored when not in use.

Elongated metal bars or rods of a telescoping character have heretoforebeen widely used in automobiles for the purpose of permitting articlesof apparel to be hung therefrom upon standard wire clothes hangers whenthe bar is extended transversely across the auto-mobile adjacent theceiling thereof. When once installed, these telescoping rods or barshave functioned well for the purpose of supporting a number of clothes,but have been inconvenient to install, sometimes requiring the installerto move from one side of the -automobile to the other one or more times,rather than being able to simply install the bar from one location afterentering the automobile through one of the side doors. Moreover, most ofthe bars have been constructed in cylindrical cross-section so that aproblem is presented of the -bar rolling -about on the floor or backWindow panel of the car 'Where it is often placed when it is not in usefor supporting clothes. Frequently too, the previous telescoping barshave fitted so loosely together that they rattle when in use, and whennot in use to an even greater extent, due to the vibrations oi theautomobile.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides an improvedtelescoping clothes support bar which can -be more easily installed, and'which will not roll about in a random fashion or rattle when it hasbeen disconnected from its points of support and placed on a flat orinclined surface. Broadly described, the present invention comprises Vafirst elongated tubular member of polygonal cross-section, and a secondelongated tubular member of polygonal crosssection which is slightlytelescoped in the first tubular ice member. The first and second tubularmembers thus conjunctively form an elongated, variable length supportbar or rod. Secured to the support bar adjacent its opposite ends are apair of supporting rings which are configured and secured to thevariable length support fbar in such la way that these rings constantly,and in every position of the support bar, provide a bight portion whichstands away from the support bar, and thus permit spaced hooks or otherprotuberant structures to be passed through the bight portions withoutthe necessity of manually manipulating the supporting rings. In apreferred embodiment of the invention, both of the elongated tubularmembers are constructed of either rectangular or square cross-sectionalconfiguration, and the supporting rings which are provided areconstructed of a spring metal material which frictionally engages thesides of the elongated tubular members adjacent the ends thereof, andthus tends to remain in the same standing position, regardless of thelocation or position of the support bar. The preferred embodiment alsoprovides a very slight bend in one of the elongated tubular members, sothat a snug frictional fit results, and rattling is eliminated.

The clothes supporting bar of the invention will not roll about on aflat or inclined surface when it is laid thereon when not in use forsupporting clothes. Moreover, it can be easily placed in position in anautomobile by manipulating both ends of the support bar from only oneside of the automobile, and no necessity exists to cross to the otherside of the automobile to manually position the supporting ring of thesupport rod over a hook or protuberanoe from which it is to besuspended.

From the foregoing description of the invention, it will have becomeapparent that it is an important object of the invention to provide asimple, low cost clothes support bar which can be Varied in its length,and which can be easily installed in any location where a pair of spacedhooks or other supporting protuberances are available.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a clothessupport bar which can be placed on a fiat or inclined surface, and whichwill not roll around on said surface in a random fashion as a result ofvibration, or of the application of external forces to the supportingsurface or to the support bar.

Other objects and advantages of the invention in addition to thosedescribed will become apparent `as the following detailed description ofthe invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a telescoping clothes barwhich does not rattle as a result of vibration when in use or whenstored.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a telescoping clothesbar which can be used to position and retain clothes at any desiredpre-selected location along the bar.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a clothessupport bar constructed in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation of the clothes support bar of FIGURE 1with a part of the bar broken away for clarity of illustration.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 0f FIGURE l.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings indetail, and particularly, to FIGURE 1, the clothes support bar of theinvention is designated generally by reference numeral and includes afirst elongated tubular member 12 which, in the illustrated embodiment,is of square cross-section as best illustrated in FIGURE 2. The tubularmember 12 slidingly receives a second elongated tubular member 14 whichhas also a square cross-sectional configuration (see FIGURE 2) and fitsrelatively snugly within the first elongated tubular member 12. Thetubular member 14 is bent very slightly from true linearity abouttwothirds of the way along its length (from the inner toward the outerend) as shown by the small arrows in FIGURE 2 indicating the angles a ofbend. The purpose of this bend will be subsequently explained.

Spaced along the length of the tubular members 12 and 14 are a pluralityof rubber stop rings 15. These rings 15 function to limit the movementof clothes hangers along the clothes support bar 10, so that, ifdesired, clothes may be kept away from the central portion of the bar toprevent obscurement of the view through the rear window of an auto inwhich the bar is used.

The open ends of the two elongated tubular members 12 and 14 are closedby means of rubber or plastic end caps 16 which are preferably providedwith radiused edges and corners, and function to prevent ripping ortearing of the upholstery of an automobile when the clothes support bar10 is used therein. Adjacent the end of each of the elongated tubularmembers 12 and 14 which carries the end cap 16 is a supporting ring 18.Each of the supporting rings 18 is configured (as best depicted inFIGURE 3) to include a trapezoidally shaped bight portion 18a which hasa pair of substantially parallel legs 18b extending therefrom. Each leg181) turns inwardly so that a pair of oppositely facing toes 18C areprovided on the ends of the legs, and can be passed through suitableapertures provided in the sides of the elongated tubular members 12 and14. The supporting rings 18 are constructed of a spring metal materialand are configured so that, `in their relaxed state, the legs 1811 arespaced from each other by a distance which is less than the transversethickness of the respective elongated tubular members 12 and 14 to whicheach ring is attached. As a result of the convergence of the sideportions of the trapezoidal bight portion 18a of each ring, the ringsare retained in a generally upstanding or upright position in allpositions of the clothes supporting bar 10, and a hook or othersupporting protuberance can be passed through the space defined betweenthe trapezoidal bight portion 18a and the respective elongated tubularmember 12 or 14, though the person installing the clothes support bar 10is only able to manipulate the rod from an end opposite that end wherethe hook to be engaged by the ring 18 is located. In other words, theclothes support rod can be easily and quickly installed from either sideof an automobile without the necessity to cross over to the other sideto effect the engagement of the supporting ring 18 on such opposite sidewith its engaging hook or other protuberant hanger structure.

From the foregoing description of the invention, it will be perceivedthat a very simple, economically constructed yet easily installed andused clothes support bar is provided by the invention. The nuisance ofhaving the rod roll about on a fiat or inclined surface within anautomobile when not in use, and while the automobile is in motion, iseliminated. Moreover, the particular construction of the supportingrings assures that a person can install the bar in an automobile withoutany dificulty, even though one side or the other of the automobileinterior may not be readily accessible. Finally, the slight bend in theinner tubular member permits a slight binding Cir or frictionalengagement of the telescoping tubular members when they are completelyor nearly completely telescoped, such frictional engagement beingsufficient to prevent rattling of the clothes bar, and to permit it tobe hung up by one of the supporting rings in a vertically dependingfashion while retained in the completely telescoped state.

Although a preferred embodiment of the .invention has been hereindisclosed to illustrate its construction, it will be readily appreciatedthat certain minor variations of the depicted structure can be effectedwithout departure from the basic principles of the invention. Thus, thecross-sectional configuration of the elongated tubular members can bemade rectangular, or even, in some instances, triangular or otherpolygonal cross-sectional configuration. All such modifications andchanges which do not depart from the basic principles of the inventionare deemed to be circumscribed by the spirit and scope of the inventionexcept as the same may be necessarily limited by the appended claims orreasonable equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes support bar comprising:

a first elongated tubular member of polygonal crosssection;

a second elongated member of polygonal cross-section slidinglytelescoped in the first tubular member and forming conjunctivelytherewith, an elongated, variable length bar, one of said members beingbent along its length to cause binding between said members as they aretelescoped; and

supporting rings secured to opposite ends of said variable length bar,said supporting rings being configured and attached to said variablelength bar to provide, in the case of each ring, a bight portion whichprojects out from the variable length bar.

2. A clothes support bar as defined in claim 1 wherein said first andsecond tubul-ar members are of rectangular cross-sectionalconfiguration;

and wherein said supporting rings are spring metal and each include:

a pair of substantially parallel legs frictionally engaging the oppositesides of said variable length bar; and

a trapezoidally shaped bight portion connected to the pair of legs.

3. A clothes support bar as defined in claim 1 and further characterizedas including an end cap closing the exposed end of each of said tubularmembers.

4. A clothes support bar as defined in claim 1 and further characterizedto include at least one resilient stop ring positioned around at leastone of said tubular members for limiting the movement of clothes hangersalong said clothes support bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,104,180 7/1914 Forlong 211-1231,194,772 8/1916 Newman et al.

1,364,638 l/1921 Pardridge 2l1-123 2,223,282 ll/1940 Dover 211-105.22,825,469 3/1958 Watkins et al. 211-105.3 2,947,421 8/ 1960 Schaefer211-1l3 XR 2,969,881 1/ 1961 Lilly 21 l-105.3

n JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

